Election Commission slams Congress’ “baseless” allegations in Haryana assembly results; Warns against ‘unfounded’ complaints

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (October 29) strongly rejected accusing the Congress party of irregularities in the recent Haryana Assembly elections, calling claims of moderation “baseless”.

The poll body also asked the Congress and other political parties to avoid raising “frivolous and unfounded doubts” which “could create turbulence when important steps like voting and counting of votes are taking place live” which could lead to unnecessary disruption of public order. .

The Election Commission’s reaction came after the Congress raised concerns over 99 per cent battery life on ECUs during counting of votes at some polling stations in 26 districts, hinting at rigging, and accused officials of deliberately slowing down the counting process.

“The Election Commission categorically rejects all baseless allegations and concerns raised by the INC regarding all aspects of the electoral process in the recently concluded Haryana Assembly elections,” the Election Commission said in a letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharga.

“This is the least expected of a national political party. The Commission appreciates the critical views of political parties on maintaining and strengthening electoral democracy in the country and assures that it will continue to strive to resolve complaints in a timely manner,” it added.

Moreover, the Election Commission also criticized Congress for repeatedly questioning election results through so-called “general doubts” when the results were unfavorable.

In a strong statement, the Electoral Commission called on the grand old party to take “concrete steps” to avoid the trend of frivolous complaints, pointing out the potential for such allegations to undermine confidence in the electoral process.

“The ICI is forced to note that in the absence of any evidence that any statutory stage of the election was compromised and the consent of the candidate to proceed to each subsequent stage was recorded; The INC once again raised the smoke of general doubt about the integrity of the entire electoral system. the result is exactly the same as in the recent past. This is the last thing one would expect from a national political party,” the statement said.

Soon after the Haryana Assembly poll results were declared on October 8, Congress general secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh held a press conference accusing EVMs of manipulating the EVMs and accusing the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) of subverting the will of the people.

Ramesh said the results in Haryana are completely unexpected, surprising and counterintuitive.

“It flies in the face of reality,” he said. said.

The Congress leader also wrote a letter to the Election Commission, saying that he had slowed down the loading of latest trends on the Election Commission website.

Despite a decade-long wave of anti-incumbency, the BJP won 48 of the 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly, while the Congress won only 37 seats, a significant victory for the ruling party.